Theories, threats, counter-threats and conspiracies are flying thick and thin around the name of convicted paedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and the nature of his relationship with Donald Trump
- The Wall Street Journal published a drawing by Trump in a book compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday.
- Trump denied the Wall Street Journal story but a few days later The Journal published a second story which said that Pam Bondi told Trump in May that he was mentioned repeatedly in the Epstein files.
By Tom Arms
Theories, threats, counter-threats and conspiracies are flying thick and thin around the name of convicted paedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and the nature of his relationship with Donald Trump.
Were the two men friends? If so, how friendly? Did Trump know that Epstein was a paedophile before his conviction? If so, how much did he know? Did he, himself have sexual relations with under-age girls? Is Donald Trump part of the deep state cabal of paedophiles who have been running the country according to QAnon and others?
All questions now being hourly discussed within and without the MAGA world and Donald Trump’s political future may hang on the answers.
It is therefore worth reviewing the known historical facts.
Jeffrey Epstein was born in Brooklyn in 1953 to working class parents. He was extremely clever and graduated high school two years early and went on to study physics and mathematics at New York University. However, for some reason, which remains unclear, he dropped out after two years.
Despite not having a degree, Epstein landed a teaching job at the posh Dalton School on New York’s Upper East Side. Former pupils there said that he was known for his “inappropriate behaviour” towards under-age female students and that this may have been the reason for his being fired in 1976. The official reason was “poor performance.”
While at Dalton, Epstein became friendly with one of the parents; Alan Greenberg, CEO of Bear Stearns. He quickly hired Epstein as a junior assistant and within four years the former teacher was a limited partner. The following year he set up his own finance house and was soon attracting billionaire clients such as Adnan Khashoggi and Victoria’s Secret CEO Leslie Wexner. He used his connections with Wexner to recruit models for Victoria’s Secret, many of them underage girls.
Epstein’s mathematical genius earned him a reputation as a Wall Street wizard and millions upon millions of dollars. His wealth went on a 78-acre private island in the Caribbean, a New York mansion, a West Palm Beach mansion and wild parties for the rich and famous and – under-age girls.
Exactly how many under-age girls were recruited for his parties is unclear. The Florida indictment named 26. The Miami Herald interviewed 60. One Department of Justice document said the figure could have been as high as a thousand.
The rich and famous included Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. He introduced Trump to Melania and attended their wedding. In a 2002 profile of Epstein in New York Magazine, Trump was quoted as saying: “I’ve known Jeffrey for 15 years. He is a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them on the younger side.”
Read: Who was Jeffrey Epstein? The disgraced financier with powerful associates
Read: People who knew Epstein at the time said he showed them hidden cameras and peep holes that allowed him to film famous people having sex. He was reported to have claimed that he kept film discs in a safe and that he used them for blackmail purposes. It is known that police found two hidden cameras when they raided his West Palm Beach home in 2007.
After his arrest in 2007, Florida prosecutors thought they had enough evidence to lock Epstein away for decades. But they didn’t. Epstein reached what is known as a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with Florida prosecutor Alexander Acosta to plead guilty to two state-level prostitution charges.
He was sentenced to just 13 months in the county jail with work release privileges. In practice this meant that he was allowed to spend 12 hours a day outside of the jail working on his business. According to a Miami Herald investigation, every morning a chauffeur-driven limousine would pick up Epstein and take him to his West Palm Beach mansion and return him to the goal in the evening. In the intervening hours, Epstein continued his sexual relations with under-age girls, according to The Herald.
Legal scholars at the time said that the sentence negotiated with Acosta was “unheard of” and “inexplicable.”
Acosta was appointed Secretary for Labour in Trump’s first cabinet. He was forced to resign in 2019 amid renewed scrutiny after Epstein was arrested in New York on sex trafficking charges. According to “The Daily Beast” Acosta told interviewers for the 2017 transition team: “I was told Epstein ‘belonged to intelligence’ and to leave it alone.”
He added that Epstein was “above his pay grade,” and that he “had been told to back off by federal prosecution in Florida.” Friends of Epstein said that Epstein told them in the 1990s that he was an intelligence asset and implied that he worked with both Mossad and the CIA.
While waiting for trial, Epstein was interned In a New York jail where, one morning, he was found hanging in his cell. Medical Examiner Barbara Sampson reported suicide. Jeffrey’s brother Mark refused to accept this and hired forensic pathologist Dr Michael Baden who said that the marks on Epstein’s body were more consistent with strangulation.
This opened the door to speculation that Epstein was murdered to stop him from implicating powerful men. The conspiracy theory was fuelled by reports that the guards that were supposed to check on him every 30 minutes had failed to do so for several hours. Also, the film in the CCTV cameras outside his cell were corrupted.
The conspiracy theorists in MAGA—which is most of MAGA—went wild in their demands that the “Epstein files” be released by Donald Trump if he won a second term in the White House.
Twice during the 2024 campaign he was asked if he would release the files. Once on Fox and Friends in June and again on the Lex Fridman podcast in September. He said he would but with a clear tone of reluctance. He told Fox: “Yeah, yeah, I would, I guess.”
Pam Bondi, after she became Attorney General, told Fox News that the “files are sitting on my desk” and I am “reviewing them” and that the review was a “directive from President Trump.”
Then on July 7, Ms Bondi’s Department of Justice said that Epstein did not have a “client list” as previously reported and that there was nothing of interest in the files and they would not be made public.
MAGA was incensed. Many of its leading figures including Steve Bannon, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Charlie Kirk, Laura Loomer and Tucker Carlson attacked the decision not to publish. The Epstein files were proof of the Deep State conspiracy and now their champion—Donald J. Trump– appeared to be part of the cover-up.
Said champion, responded by lashing out at his supporters. They were doing the Democrats work. They were “weaklings”. They were undermining his administration. The Epstein files were “a hoax”. He accused Biden, Obama and the FBI of fabricating and editing files. He tried to deflect attention by publicly accusing Barack Obama of treason and demanding that the Washington Commanders football team change their name back to the Washington Redskins or lose federal funds. All of his attempts at redirection appeared to boomerang. It was a case of “Mr President, methinks thou doth protest too much.”
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal published a drawing by Trump in a book compiled for Epstein’s 50th birthday. The doodle was of a naked lady and Trump’s signature denoted the lady’s pubic hairs. The message included an imaginary dialogue between Trump and Epstein which said they shared secrets and concluded with the words: “A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy Birthday — and may every day be another wonderful secret.”
Trump responded to the Wall Street Journal story by denying that he was responsible for the birthday message and threatening to sue Rupert Murdoch, the Wall Street Journal and the two reporters who wrote the story for $10-20 billion. A few days later The Journal published a second story which said that Pam Bondi told Trump in May that he was mentioned repeatedly in the Epstein files.
Republicans within Congress have started to turn against Trump on the issue. Enough of them joined with the Democrats to demand a vote on a resolution to release the files. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson avoided the vote by calling an early summer recess.
Finally, there is the fate of Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of disgraced British newspaper tycoon Robert Maxwell and sometime girlfriend and sometime procuress for Epstein. She is currently languishing in a Florida gaol after being sentenced for charges involving prostitution and sex trafficking.
Maxwell is reportedly miserable and appealing her 20-year sentence. According to friends, she will say or do almost anything to get out of prison. The House of Representatives Oversight Committee has subpoenaed Maxwell to testify on 11 August. But Todd Blanche, who was Trump’s personal attorney and is now Deputy Attorney General, has beaten them to the punch.
On Thursday and Friday Blanche—a Trump loyalist and political appointee—met with Ghislaine Maxwell and her lawyers. Maxwell’s lawyers said the meeting was “very productive.” The inference being drawn by people inside and outside the MAGA movement is that Maxwell has been promised leniency—possibly even a pardon—if she gives testimony to the House committee clearing the president of involvement in the “Epstein files.”
And that is where we are on Friday 25 July 2025. There will doubtless be more to come.
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Tom Arms is foreign editor of Liberal Democrat Voice, a regular contributor to “The New World” and the author of “The Encyclopedia of the Cold War” and “America Made in Britain.”
